let tenderness freeze
by SebonzaMitsuki27
Summary: AxelNaminé, RikuKairi. AU. A mysterious witch. A fallen prince. A fearless knight. A dancing princess.


let tenderness freeze

disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts.

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**01—swirl**

It comes in dreams, it comes in scrapes of pencils outlines, reflected in delicately ingrained paper; she sees faces, familiar and unknown, and wonders, as she crumples yet another sketch into the bin, why she can never remember drawing these pretty people, as she fades in and out of consciousness in her pretty tower made of china and clay.

**02—parry**

His heart is frozen, caught in thorns and spider's silk, cast neatly on forgotten memories; and for a time, he wanders, listlessly searching with hardened eyes and a pale face, destroying creatures with black hearts and yellow eyes with graceful thrusts of his rusty sword; though it does not comfort him, for he has long lost his purpose and between waking and dreaming.

**03—deign**

She has danced all her life in slippers and sandals, beseeching passer-by's to drop some munny, as she carefully rises and falls in the air in pirouettes and pas de deux, clad in gossamer clothes, tattered through tarnished faith; nobody remembers that she was once a princess who weaves a tale for a lost kingdom.

**04—overthrown**

Blood comes in the tangible form of dawn, splitting open skewered butterfly's wings as the aftermath approaches the end, try as he might to be the puppeteer, the prince who would lead his subjects to salvation, in the end he is rejected and transformed into a moth, destined to burn up in flames, so bright and beautiful in wicker wax melodies; he has always known that he was not fit to rule.

**05—lost**

She whispers to mice and birds that sing so sweetly beside her barred window a prayer, a weak hope of rescue; but they turn a deaf ear, knowing in truth that if she truly wished to be rescued, she would do so herself.

**06—yield**

He stumbles across her by accident, the pale girl who haunts his dreams with a tugging smile and an offering of her hands, soft like doves in summer skies, and her red, red hair, red like strawberries, red like cherries, red like crimson curtains; and he stares through the twilight groves until she meets his eyes and offers him one dance, yet he can't find the willpower to move.

**07—nevermore **

She feels his breath on her skin and sees the long tendrils of silver hair long before she recognises him; and swears that she will not lose herself in the past, before she feels her heart beat like it used to, hard against her bony chest, and realizes that she has always been living in the past, has always waited for him to redeem his pretty promise on scattered clouds and windy days.

**08—night**

As he runs through clusters of brambles and crows, mocking the darkness through his jade eyes, he begins to remember a girl, shimmering as she whispered strange incantations in his heart, fading in and out of existence by stone castle walls, pebbled in stones and lies of lore; she calls under the moonlight's pull.

**09—translucent **

She is soft, she is quivering, she is dying under these clouds made of gossamer silk; pencils neatly aligned on her fragile skin, and she breaks into shards, destroying the wickerwax tower.

**10—desideratum**

Her knees act as a pillow for the silver knight, and he can feel her fingers caress his locks of silver hair; though he longs to open his eyes and his mouth and tell her many, many things, his wounds are far, far too deep.

**11—ephemeral **

He is dying, her sweet, sweet knight is dying and so all she can do is press her lips against his and wait for him to breathe no more; she too will dance no more.

**12—turncoat**

Someone has betrayed him, alerted the guards and revolutionists, for now he is surrounded by birds and beasts alike: in three quick motions they end his life and in the last blink of his jaded eyes, he sees that girl made of broken wings and tarnished flight in the swallowing darkness.

**13—terminate**

Her smile is made of tears and as she realizes that her curse is complete, she ripples beneath the ocean waves.

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End file.
